Remember a few years ago when the banking community was on edge that Walmart was going to get a bank charter and the pundits declared that Walmart would soon dominate the banking world? Now, some wonder if Facebook could represent a formidable challenger to the established banking community. After all, we have all seen the stats about how many people are on Facebook (it would be the 4th largest country in the world, 50% of Facebook users login at least once a day, etc.) But what about Apple? Or Google? Or here is a thought – how about nobody? Does succeeding in being a low cost leader, a leader in innovation, a social networking juggernaut or the grandaddy of the web equate to being good bankers? Do these leaders in their respective fields really have a long term strategy around entering the financial services industry? Should banks partner, isolate, or fear these industry giants?
I have developed a poll on LinkedIn that will allow you to make your voice heard. Fast forward to 2015 and let me know if you feel that any of the vendors below will be a real threat to banks in five years. Each brings their own unique offering.
Apple (devices)
Facebook (users)
Google (systems and applications)
Walmart (location, location, location)
None (too many hurdles)
One last item, the purpose of this poll is to look at non-financial industry threats, which is why PayPal and other financial service players are not listed.
